Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Harry Potter

At 11:00 AM precisely on September 1st a whistle pierced the smokey air and the Hogwarts Express pulled away from Platform 9 ¾. Parents waved at the windows as their children left for school. A few tears were shed as the train disappeared in the smog. On board friends were reacquainted, stories told, and compartments were quickly claimed. Hardly a compartment had less than three people in it, and some had quite a bit more. Everyone had someone to talk to and laugh with. Everyone except for a small boy, alone in his compartment.

Yugi smiled and looked out the window, admiring the green countryside. He was a little nervous to be going to Hogwarts. He was from Japan, and would usually be going to school there, but was part of a foreign exchange program to try and improve relations between the schools. He'd been chosen partially because he could speak English already and also because his grandpa thought it would be good for him to have some new experiences.

He turned back to a small bag he always had with him and took out a gold box with Egyptian hieroglyphics on it. When he opened the lid more gold glinted in the sunlight. He took out a few of the gold shapes and started fitting together the puzzle he had been working on for eight years. "I wonder what shape it'll be." He murmured softly as he worked.

A few hours passed quietly and Yugi still worked on his puzzle. He didn't mind being alone, that's how it usually was, but he would have liked to have someone to play a game with. He sighed and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand.

He looked up as the door to his compartment opened, letting in a tall blond boy and a slightly taller boy with brown hair. He smiled cautiously. "Hello Joey, Tristan."

Joey sneered and moved to sit across from Yugi. "What are you working on?"

"A puzzle." Yugi grinned. "It's my greatest treasure. I've been working on it for eight years."

Joey took a piece out of the box. "Great treasure huh? Looks pretty stupid to me."

Tristan laughed. "Don't tell me you've been sitting here alone working on that since the train left."

Yugi nodded and reached out to take back the puzzle piece Joey had taken. "Please give it back Joey." He asked softly.

Joey laughed. "If you want it, then take it." He held out his hand, palm up with the piece sitting in the middle. He pulled his hand away when Yugi reached to grab it. "Come on Yugi. Be a man. Take it." He held out the piece again.

Yugi frowned and reached for it again, only for Joey to pull it away again. "Please give it back Joey."

Tristan shook his head. "You'll never be accepted at this rate. Who would want a coward like you at their school?"

Yugi leaned back and ducked his head. Tristan had his his worst fears right on the head. He hoped he would be accepted, but how could he when he didn't even stand up to bullies? He didn't have any friends now, and most people thought he was shy at best and a coward at worst.

Joey grinned and stood up, tossing the puzzle piece and catching it a few times. "I think I'll just keep this until you can man up then Yugi."

Yugi stood up and tried to grab the piece, but Joey held it just out of his reach. Joey was so much taller than him that it was no use, but Yugi tried to jump and grab it anyway. "Give it back Joey!"

He kept trying to get the piece as Joey tossed it to Tristan and they played a game of monkey-in-the-middle with the puzzle piece. None of them noticed the door open until someone grabbed Joey by the ear.

"How dare you pick on someone half your size!" Tea scolded. Joey grimaced and tried to pull away, but the brown haired girl yanked on his ear harder. "You should be ashamed of yourselves.

Tristan held his hands out. "Hey. We weren't teasing him. Joey here was just trying to get Yugi to be a man."

Tea looked down at Yugi. "Is that true?"

Yugi nodded and looked down again. "Yes. They just want me to show some backbone." He said quietly. "They didn't mean any harm."

Tea nodded abruptly and let go of Joey's ear. "Now give him back the puzzle piece you took."

Joey glared at her, but shoved the piece back into the box anyway. "Not worth my time." He mumbled as he and Tristan left the compartment.

Tea watched them leave and glared until they shut the door on their own compartment. Then she turned back to Yugi who had once again started working on his puzzle. She sighed. "You know they won't leave you alone until you actually stand up to them."

Yugi nodded. "Yes. But they're so much bigger than me. And they don't mean any harm, they just want me to grow up." He kept working on the puzzle, finally fitting another piece into the set he'd been working on all afternoon.

He heard a sigh as Tea sat down across from him. "Whatever you say Yugi." She frowned. " But please remember. Strength isn't always about who's the biggest or who has the most muscle. It's also about who's smart enough to get around their weaknesses and use their opponent's weaknesses against them."

They finished the ride in silence as Yugi thought about that and worked on his puzzle. It was true that the strongest opponent would win in a straight battle, but to win a war you needed strategy and tactics. Adding to your own strengths and exploiting the weaknesses in others. In games that was true as well. And Yugi loved games.


The train finally stopped at the Hogsmead station. The platform quickly filled with students, the older ones getting into carriages that looked like they pulled themselves. Yugi looked around, wondering where he should go when a very loud voice sounded over the noise of the students. "FIRST YEARS! FIRST YEARS FOLLOW ME!" Yugi saw a giant of a man wading through the students, holding a lantern over their heads. He moved with the rest of the first years to stand near him and was guided towards a small fleet of boats on the beach of a lake. In the distance he could see the outline of a castle against the starry sky. He sucked in his breath. He was finally at Hogwarts.

The first years were guided into the boats and Yugi ended up in one with Tea and a girl with bushy brown hair and an eager expression. Without them having to do anything the boats started moving across the lake once everyone was seated. They moved steadily and were soon at the castle.

The group was herded into a large room and a very stern looking witch had them gather in a group. "Welcome to Hogwarts. You will soon be taken into the Great Hall where you will be sorted. There are four houses. Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. While you are at Hogwarts your house will be like your family. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. You will attend classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room. Your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"It has come to my attention that we have a few foreign exchange students. Don't worry. You will be sorted the same as your classmates. And I'm sure the rest of the students will make you feel as comfortable as they want to be themselves.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting. I shall return when we are ready for you." She turned around and walked away from them.

Yugi ended up near the front of the group standing next to a boy with messy black hair, bright green eyes, and glasses. Surprisingly he wasn't much taller than Yugi. The boy turned and smiled. "Hi. I'm Harry."

"Yugi. Yugi Mutou." He grinned. "You look as nervous as I do."

Harry nodded and a red haired boy with a face full of freckles leaned in front of Harry to offer Yugi his hand. "Ron Weasley." He grinned.

Yugi shook the offered hand. "It's nice to meet you." The boy was staring with open admiration at Yugi's hair. Yugi smiled, that happened a lot. It's a little hard not to notice the tri-colored star shape on top of his head. It, along with his extremely short stature and violet eyes, were his most obvious features. "And yes, before you ask it is natural. Not a spell."

Ron nodded and grinned. "Guess you get asked that a lot then?"

Yugi nodded and was about to say something else when someone pushed him from behind and he stumbled a few steps.

Joey and Tristan stood behind Yugi. Obviously one of them had shoved him. They grinned and Ron glared at them, but Yugi shook his head, not wanting another confrontation.

Joey laughed again and was about to say something when he was shoved from behind.

"Out of my way you filthy mudblood." A boy with a pale, pointed face and platinum blond hair slicked back across his scalp sneered.

Joey's face turned red and his hand clenched into a fist. "What did you call me?"

"Mudblood." Came the answer. The boy took out his wand. "What have you got to say about it? You're obviously muggle born and not worth my time."

Yugi frowned and stepped forward in front of the boy. "And who do you think you are to be calling him that. As if you're any better?"

The boy drew himself up. "I am Draco Malfoy. And I happen to be from one of the most powerful pure wizard families that you can find."

"My name is Yugi Mutou. And I could say the same thing. But that doesn't make us any better than them. People who believe in that blood-line nonsense are idiots."

Joey took a step back, unnoticed, and smiled slightly at Yugi's comment. Who knew that runt had the guts to stand up to anyone? And much less stand up to him. He'd been teasing Yugi for years. Maybe he wasn't such a wimp after all.

Two boys that looked more like trolls moved to stand next to the pale one. "I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you. This is Crabbe and Goyle."

Yugi took a step back. He had gotten beat up before and these two looked like they could eat him for breakfast and still have room for more. He took a breath and stepped forward. "Nice to meet you Crabbe and Goyle."

Malfoy snorted and turned to Harry, ignoring Yugi. "So you're the one they were talking about on the train then? Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts." He grinned. "You'll soon find out that some wizarding families are much better than others. Mutou should know that, but obviously his family doesn't care who they dirty themselves with. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there." He offered his hand to Harry's but Harry didn't take it.

"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself thanks." Harry answered coolly.

Draco glared. "I'd be careful if I were you, Potter. Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents." He turned to Yugi. "And you should be careful as well. Hang around with riffraff like this," He pointed to Joey and Ron, "and it'll rub off on you."

Ron turned red but Yugi put out a hand to hold him back. "I'd rather hang out with them than with a narrow minded jerk like you any day. Malfoy."

Malfoy looked like he'd swallowed a toad and his lackeys started grinding their fists into their palms. Luckily at that moment the doors to the Great Hall opened and the same stern looking witch walked through.

"We're ready for you now." She called and led them through the doors.

The first years walked nervously between four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. They lined up at the front and looked up at the table where the teachers were. In front of their table was an old stool, an seated on it was the rattiest looking hat that Yugi had ever seen. Everyone was staring at that hat, and for a few seconds there was no sound. Then a rip opened near the brim and the hat began to sing:

Oh you may not think me pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts
Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
if you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folks use any means
To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!

Yugi clapped along with everyone else as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each table then became perfectly still again. He chewed his lip. He didn't feel like he belonged in any house, and from the look on Harry face he didn't either.

The stern looking professor walked up next to the hat holding a long roll of parchment. "When I call your name you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." She looked at the first name. "Abbott, Hannah."

A girl with blond pig-tails stepped forward. He face was completely pink and she looked terrified as she took the hat and shoved it on her head. It completely covered her head and she sat on the stool. "HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat called. She took the hat off and set it back on the chair as the students applauded. She walked over to the Hufflepuff table and grinned.

Yugi applauded with the rest as each student was sorted. Bakura, Ryou also became a Hufflepuff. He grinned when Gardner, Tea was called. She walked up to the hat and was quickly sorted into Gryffindor.

When Granger, Hermione was called the bushy haired girl he had ridden with in the boat ran up to the hat and jammed it eagerly on her head.

"GRIFFINDOR!"

Ishtar, Marik was made a Slytherin. Kaiba, Seto became a Ravenclaw, and Longbottom, Neville was sorted into Gryffindor. When Malfoy, Draco was called, Yugi grimaced. The hat barely touched his head before calling out. "SLYTHERIN!"

"Mutou, Yugi." All of the blood drained out of Yugi's face as he walked up to the stool. He heard a few snickers and comments about his hair that were quickly shushed. He shoved the hat over his head and waited.

"Hmm." A small voice whispered in his ear. "Not a bad mind at all. A love of Games and a loyalty to anyone you care about. I do see self doubt though. You shouldn't think so lowly of yourself. You have plenty of courage as well." Yugi frowned. Him? Courageous? Yeah right. "Yes. There is the self doubt then. Well, I think there is only one place to put you so it can grow. So you can prove it to yourself. Yes. The only place for you is. GRYFFINDOR!"

Yugi sighed in relief as it was announced. But as he took the hat off he heard something else. "Better keep working on that Puzzle of yours though." It said quietly. Yugi grinned and nodded as he practically bounced over to the Gryffindor table.

He was patted on the back by a few other people and a pair of red-headed twins grinned at him. A few more people were called and then "Potter, Harry."

Whispering broke out through the Hall as Harry walked up to the hat.

"Potter? Did McGonagall say Potter?"

"It can't really be the Harry Potter? Can it?"

The hat dropped over Harry's eyes and the students waited with bated breath until finally the brim opened again. "GRYFFINDOR!"

The Hall erupted into the loudest cheer yet and the twins that had grinned at Yugi started chanting "We got Potter! We got Potter! We got Potter!" Harry sat next to Yugi and they grinned at each other.

The rest of the sortings went quickly. Taylor, Tristan also became a Gryffindor along with Ron Weasley and Joey Wheeler. Finally Zabini, Blaise was made a Slytherin and McGonagall rolled up the scroll and took the hat with its stool away.

The students looked up at the teacher's table and the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, stood up. "Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our feast I have a few words I would like to say. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Odment! Tweak! Thank you." He sat down and everyone clapped and cheered.

Yugi laughed quietly and then started to dig into the food that appeared in front of them. There was so much food that he thought they would never be able to finish it. Roast beef, chicken, applesauce, potatoes, pudding, carrots, and even some foods from Japan. Yugi piled his plate with food and ate with relish.

Yugi looked up from his plate and the red-headed twins were looking at him. "We were just wondering. What is up with your hair?"

Yugi sighed and smiled. "It's natural." He laughed at their identical expressions. "I'm not kidding. No spells or anything."

They grinned. "Cool. You're one of the exchange students aren't you?"

Yugi nodded. "Yes, I'm from Japan."

They grinned and the one on the left offered his hand. "I'm George and this is my brother Fred. We're the older brothers of that knuckle head next to Harry." Yugi nodded. He'd thought they'd seemed similar. "And that's Percy over there. He's our prat of a prefect brother."

Yugi wondered just how many brothers Ron had.

After everyone had eaten their fill the food disappeared to be replaced by desserts. Yugi grabbed some strawberries and cream. Ron turned to him. "So what are you?" The conversation had turned to families and status. Ron's was pure-blood, Tristan half-blood and so was Tea. Joey and Hermione were both muggle-born.

"My family is all wizards." Yugi grinned and the others nodded. They'd guessed so after Malfoy's comment.

"So how does Malfoy know you then?"

Yugi shrugged. "Almost all of the supposed 'pure-blood' families are related somehow." He frowned. "I guess Malfoy and I are cousins somewhere down the line." He didn't like the thought of that very much.

Ron rescued him though. "I guess that means that you and I are related somewhere too." He laughed.

They all laughed and finished eating their desserts. Yugi looked up at the teachers table and frowned when he saw a teacher with extremely straight platinum colored hair staring at him. He thought he caught a glint of gold near his left eye, but then it was gone. "Hey George? Who's that teacher sitting next to McGonagall?"

"Hmm? Oh. That's the new teacher. I'm sure Dumbledore will mention him in his speech."

At that moment the desserts vanished from the table and Dumbledore stood up again.

"Ahem. Just a few start of term notices for you. First years please note that the forest is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our returning students should know that by now as well. I have also been asked to remind you by Mr. Filch, our caretaker, that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.

"Quidditch tryouts will be held in the second week of the term. Any interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madame Hooch.

"And finally I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

A few people laughed but most frowned.

"And now it is time for you to go and get your rest for classes tomorrow. I wish you all luck this year." With that everyone got up from the tables and started walking towards their house common rooms. Yugi stood in place by Harry and Ron, unsure what to do. Percy Weasely waved to the first years to follow him and led them through doorways, some hidden in odd places, and up quite a few staircases. Finally they reached the end of a corridor with a painting of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.

"Password?" She asked.

"Caput Draconis." Said Percy, and the painting swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They scrambled through it and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room. It was cozy and round, full of squashy and comfortable looking armchairs.

Percy directed the girls through the door to their dormitory and the boys through to theirs. At the top of a spiral staircase they found their room. Beds lined the walls and their luggage had already been brought up. Yugi put on his pajamas and brought out his puzzle.

"What's that Yugi?" Ron asked.

Tristan laughed. "It's his greatest treasure."

Joey elbowed Tristan and shook his head, but no one else noticed.

Yugi ducked his head and nodded, still working with the gold pieces.

"Treasure huh?" Harry asked and walked over to look at it. "What is it?"

"It's a puzzle." Yugi said quietly. "I've been working on it for eight years."

"Really? Eight years? Must be one hard puzzle then." Ron walked over and sat next to Yugi.

Yugi nodded and showed them some of the pieces. Ron frowned and his brow furrowed. "Yeah. Looks way to hard for me. You must really like puzzles."

"I like all kinds of games. This puzzle is just one I work on a lot. I actually think I'm pretty close to finishing it." He grinned. It was actually starting to make more sense and he'd put more of it together today than he'd ever done before.

Harry and Ron watched for a minute more before walking back to their own beds. "Well good luck with it Yugi. And good night."

He smiled and nodded, but kept working on it. Joey and Tristan snorted, but crawled into their beds too.

Everyone was soon asleep and the only sound that could be heard was the clicking of the gold pieces as they finally found their place. Yugi got more and more excited as the puzzle took shape. Supposedly the person who finished the puzzle would get a wish.

As Yugi fit the last piece into the puzzle he whispered quietly. "I wish I could have some true friends."

He looked happily at the complete puzzle. It was the shape of an inverted Egyptian pyramid with the eye of Horus on the front of it. He fed a chain through the gold loop on the top and laid down in bed, holding it close and smiling.

He slipped into unconsciousness quickly, completely unaware that a new presence was watching over him.


And there you have it. The first chapter to my Harry Potter/Yu-Gi-Oh crossover. I hope you guys liked it. Yes I realize that I changed a lot. I meant to. I'm going to change more.

And for those of you wondering why Joey and Tristan are acting like jerks it's because they did in the beginning, don't worry. It'll change soon.

Please review and tell me what you thought. :) I'd really appreciate some constructive criticism.